Money to Washing House Representatives’ Cars Would Be Enough to Save National Museum

Amount disbursed by the public coffers in a single contract of the Chamber of Deputies to wash official cars would be enough to defray the expenses of the National Museum of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) , hit by a fire on Sunday night, Sep. 2nd.

According to a survey by the Open Accounts Association (Contas Abertas), the institution cost R$ 643.5 thousand in 2017. For purposes of comparison, the House contract to clean and wash 83 used cars by 19 deputies who hold management positions is R$ 563, 3 thousand.

According to a survey by the Open Accounts Association, the institution cost R $ 643.5 thousand in 2017. For purposes of comparison, the House contract to clean and wash 83 used cars by 19 deputies who hold management positions is R $ 563, 3 thousand.

According to Gil Castello Branco, founder and general secretary of the Open Accounts, the financial difficulty for the museum could not be justified by the lack of funds from the federal government.

“With this amount [monthly expenses], you can not talk about lack of money,” he notes.

The federal government has no direct obligation to the museum, as it makes onlendings to UFRJ, which also suffers from cuts in the Union’s budget. The university is experiencing a serious financial crisis and claims to have been affected by the “lack of adequate funding” the last four years.

“The budget matrix in the Ministry of Education does not allocate any resources for the buildings listed by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) and for university museums. ends, “UFRJ said in a note on Monday.

By the end of August, the National Museum had received only R $ 98,100 in resources: 15% of the resources earmarked last year.

Of these R $ 98,100 that entered the institution’s coffers in 2018, R $ 23.4 thousand were used for maintenance and maintenance of machinery and equipment. Another R $ 21.2 thousand went to the development of studies and research.

Museum had the world’s fifth largest collection (20 million items) as one of the oldest human fossils ever found in the Americas, 12,000 years old, named Luzia.

The institution operated in Quinta da Boa Vista, palace used as residence of the royal family. It was at that place that Empress Leopoldina signed the Declaration of Independence of Brazil in 1822.

The building would go through works, which would include a fire-fighting system capable of minimizing such tragedies. However, the money expected since 2015 has only been released by BNDES (National Economic and Social Development Bank) now in 2018.